_ 444 _ I, D.Antão de Noronha, a member of the Council of The construction of the fortress of Ormuz was begun on 24 October 1507 with the consent of the then reigning monarch, Saifu’d-din. “When the work started Afonso de Albuquerque gave priority to completing the tower because his intention was to sail in January to reconnoitre the Red Sea, and he wanted to leave this tower with two floors so that the Portuguese could defend themselves from there until he returned to Ormuz against all the Persians who might come.” Commentarios do Grande Affonso de Alboquerque, Part 1, chap. XXXVII, p.140. This was on his first campaign against Ormuz. The fortress was given the name of Nossa Senhora da Vitória. (Cf. Visconde de Lagõa, Grandes e Humildes sv. Afonso de Albuquerque. In his second campaign against Ormuz, in 1515, Albuquerque conquered the city and completed the fortress he had begun earlier. (Duarte Barbosa, Livro, p.59). In a letter of 22 September 1515 Afonso de Albuquerque told the King, on the subject of this fortress: “Ormuz at present is free of all the Turks who used to be here, and thus I rid it of all the disorders resulting from these evil and unclean Moors... In that direction our fortress comes close to the King’s dwelling, the wall overlooks the western well; and because sometimes the high tides are very full and the main gate of the fortress is on the shore, I made another gate towards the city. I cleared away the King’s old houses and I am making a road and passage there to the city. So outside our fortress, the whole length of the wall they had to the west is now ours, also a large gate to the passage they had towards the sea, and some large and well-made houses built by Khwaja Attar adjoining the gate, in which I hope to set up your factory... (Cartas, I, p.379, Lisbon, 1884). Thus the definitive settlement of the Portuguese in Ormuz dates from 1515. The King of Ormuz was at this time still Saifud’din, and the name of his guazil was Nuru’d-din.
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